The geographical area of Thrace, which extended from the Danube to the Aegean and from the Nestos to the western coast of the Black Sea, was a key region of the Byzantine Empire, as the imperial capital, Constantinople, belonged to it. Studies have been published from time to time on Thrace’s history, prosopography, historical geography, and administration, but the networks within the region and with other nearby or distant regions have not been adequately investigated. Fresh conclusions and interpretations can be revealed by the study of the new sigillographic, numismatic, and archaeological data, the recent research findings of historical geography, and social network theory. The aim of this Thematic Session is to examine the networks of Thrace with other regions during the Early and Middle Byzantine periods through the movement of people, the transfer of products, and the circulation of written information via maritime and overland routes. Therefore, the following topics for discussion are suggested: (1) Circulation of written information and communication at administrative and military levels according to the evidence of seals; (2) Trade and economic relations of Thrace with nearby and distant regions; (3) Harbours and commercial centres in Thrace; (4) New evidence of amphorae and coins.
In the region of Thrace, thousands of seals have been discovered, for which we know the place of finding either because they come from archaeological excavations or from indications by collectors, although their information is not always accurate. The seals found in the territories of present-day Bulgaria, which correspond to a large part of Byzantine…
Late Antique and Byzantine Thrace was crisscrossed by a dense road network, with numerous communication routes connecting the individual market centers between the River Danube in the north and the Aegean Sea or the Sea of Marmara in the south. These roads often consisted of several routes running parallel to each other at a certain…
Within the framework of the international project “Lead Seals in Byzantine Thrace: Re-examination of data, mapping the distribution of findings and tracing the communication networks (LSByT)” funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (https://lsbyt.web.auth.gr/), approximately 3,000 seals with known findspots, predominantly from the territory of modern Bulgaria, were reviewed and, on the basis…
The data from the coin finds in Thrace show that after the second decade of the 7th century the monetary circulation came to a complete halt. On the one hand, this anomaly is explained by the naturalization of the Empire’s economy, and on the other hand, by the lower stage of development of the barbarians…
In this paper I focus on the southwesternmost part of Thrace, more precisely the Prefectures of Xanthi and Rodopi of the Hellenic Republic. My aim is to draw conclusions about the economy, administration and transport on the basis of the historical topography and toponymy, primarily from the Byzantine and Ottoman eras. Of particular interest are…
Amphorae as transport vessels provide crucial evidence for assessing the economic structures of Byzantine regions, their trade networks, the circulation of goods, and, by extension, patterns of human mobility. This paper focuses on amphorae unearthed in Byzantine Thrace and the Aegean, dating from the mid-seventh to the eleventh century. Recent advances in typological classification over…